Legal advice: Dutch state not liable in Srebrenica slayings

February 1, 2019

THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AP) — A senior Dutch legal adviser says a court’s ruling that the Netherlands was partially liable in the deaths of more than 300 Muslim men killed by Bosnian Serb forces in the 1995 Srebrenica massacre should be overturned on appeal.

In a written opinion published Friday, the country’s Advocate General said the 2017 ruling “cannot be upheld.” The advice for judges at the country’s Supreme Court is nonbinding, but carries significant weight. The Supreme Court is scheduled to issue its ruling in April.

In 2017, The Hague Court of Appeal ruled that Dutch United Nations peacekeeping troops effectively facilitated the separation of Muslim men by Bosnian Serb forces during their evacuation from a Dutch compound. The men were among some 8,000 Muslim men and boys murdered by Bosnian Serbs.